Council received the Rossland Skatepark Association (RSA) report on Tuesday night as Aaron Cosbey of the RSA and Les Carter presented the highlights of the process and their conclusions. The final decision between RossGlen and the Emcon site is open for council to debate at the next regular meeting.
Cosbey referred to Carter as the “driving force” behind the process “and the research that underpinned the process.” He recommended Carter’s survey of 40 B.C. skateparks as “not a long read, but extremely enlightening” for anyone who is interested in the “dynamics of a skatepark within a community.”
Carter made it clear that he took on the role of facilitator “for the community,” not for the RSA or from any particular point of view. “We were aiming for understanding,” he explained, “and common ground that gives council a good direction.”
Carter and the RSA tried very hard to publicize the meetings, with Cosbey joking that they did “everything short of getting on cable TV to get people out.” Coun. Kathy Moore congratulated the group on these efforts — in which she also participated — and commended the turnout of 65 people as “fantastic.”
Carter agreed that “lots of good local knowledge was brought to the table by participants,” adding that “they did magnificently. Rosslanders are getting extremely good at being responsible citizens and doing this kind of stuff. I can’t think of another argument that anyone can raise about anything!”
Carter said Rossland is “horizontally challenged,” with sites largely constrained by short distances from neighbouring residences and Cosbey briefly described the history of the RSA’s search for a site and the many places they considered before narrowing it down to these two. Cosbey said the RSA “fully accepted the results of the process and fully stand behind what’s in the report.”
“The Emcon site was a clear winner in terms of location,” he said, but noise issues due to proximity to neighbours, plus the cost of construction due to existing subsurface infrastructure were major problems. RossGlen is not so central, he said, “but scores highly on its park setting and, for the same money, we can build a much better park.”
Coun. Hanne Smith thanked Carter and the RSA for the public process that she attended and described as “welcoming, inclusive, and thorough.” The rest of council echoed these sentiments and are clearly supportive of the initiative. As Cosbey said, the skatepark will be “an essential part of our strategy to move to a four-season report. A good skatepark attracts people regularly, and attracts people who tour the province.” He added that its “a piece that families will consider when deciding to move to Rossland.”
Both Coun. Kathy Wallace and Coun. Jill Spearn were concerned that RossGlen was out of the way, and worried that if it were not central it might fall into abuse or disuse. Cosbey noted that most bikers now head to the Centennial Park bike skills park or the many trails available to them, but skaters only have Harry Lefevre Square for the moment. Carter added that “front-and-centre” doesn’t necessarily mean “bang in the middle of town.”
Spearn raised a concern about parking and the “flow of traffic” in the RossGlen neighbourhood, but Cosbey noted that although the RossGlen neighbours are not all behind the skatepark — some have since expressed regret that they did not attend the meeting — but there was not the strong opposition that the Emcon site created. Cosbey also suggested that the issues RossGlen neighbours have raised since were addressed at the meeting.
Spearn also recalled a skatepark that had impressed her on the West Coast with its graffiti “skaters had painted themselves.” Calling it “fabulous,” she encouraged the RSA to “engage users to do that.”
Coun. Andy Stradling asked about the “multi-use” possibilities and Cosbey concurred that collaboration with the biking community (and even the roller derby league) has been central, and those communities have “some of the strongest supporters” of the skatepark.
Council had previously approved the Emcon site, but local opposition led the RSA to the consultation process and now the RSA is looking for “a new decision that supercedes the previous decision,” Cosbey said. A quick decision is important for the RSA, he said, because, “without knowing where it goes, we can’t plan or budget or fundraise locally.”
Mayor Greg Granstrom, who recalled attaching roller skate wheels to a piece of plywood in his “younger years,” and his younger brother lobbying Trail for a skatepark decades ago, said “this is not a fad.” Although “there will never be a perfect spot,” a decision will likely be made at the next council meeting. He said, “We don’t want to be the City of Trail, 25 years later saying, Maybe we’ll put it where we were going to put it 25 years ago.”
The final report of the public consultation, a technical review of the sites by current and former city staff, and the survey of 40 communities that Carter undertook is available on the RSA website, www.skaterossland.ca.